Ask an Expert: Dr. Jess Talks Mental Health & Wellness 👩🏾⚕️
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🚨 How did a winter storm cause massive blackouts in Texas? Why did President Biden declare a state of emergency in Texas?👩🏾⚕️ Dr. Jessica Clemons, aka Dr. Jess, joins us for an Ask An Expert segment to discuss mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. 🦖 What did a baby T-Rex dinosaur look like? Let's find out on today's Creature Feature! 🦇 Plus! How did a geriatric fruit bat named Statler become an internet sensation?
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👩🏾⚕️ Learn how Dr. Jess uses the internet to spread mental health awareness
🚨 Learn how you can help and get help in Texas during the mass power outage
🦖 Baby tyrannosaurs are how small when they're young?
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Transcript
Various voices 0:00
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
From coping with feelings to rediscovering dinosaurs, in the next 10 minutes, we'll get the lowdown on what's up in the world. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is The Ten News.
The week after Valentine's Day, Texas was hit with a major winter storm that brought ice, snow, and a bitter cold to a state that's not used to seeing that kind of arctic blast. The extreme weather also caused massive blackouts throughout the state, leaving millions without power in below freezing temperatures. Experts blame the outages on enormous energy demand and power plants that just weren't prepared to handle the cold. But no matter why it happened, the people of Texas need help. President Biden has declared a state of emergency there, which means people will be able to get assistance from the federal government. There are also lots of organizations working to provide Texans with food, shelter and other basic needs. For more resources and ways you can help visit TheTenNews.com
It's been almost a whole year since the Coronavirus first began to change our lives in ways we couldn't possibly have imagined. No Happy Birthday for you Coronavirus. For some guidance on how to deal with all the change and uncertainty, let's ask an expert. I get to speak with board certified psychiatrist Dr. Jess Clemens, aka Dr. Jess. Hi, Dr. Jess.
Dr. Jess 1:52
Hi.
Bethany Van Delft 1:53
So what does a psychiatrist do?
Dr. Jess 1:56
Yeah, that's a great question. So a psychiatrist is a type of medical doctor and seeing people who are experiencing big emotions, emotions that are really difficult for them to sort of cope with. And it can affect the way that they, you know, take care of themselves take care of their families, it can also affect the way that they function at work. And so when someone is experiencing those big emotions, like depression, for example, they may come to see me, I'll see them in office, we'll talk I'll get to know them a bit. And it helps me to identify the problem. In which case, once I know what's going on, let's say I diagnose them with depression, again, I use medication to treat their symptoms.
Bethany Van Delft 2:41
Okay. So, the pandemic, oh my gosh, just brings up so many big, big feelings, so many different big feelings. Some kids move or change schools and don't get to say goodbye to old friends. What advice would you have for for kids experiencing that, for example?
Dr. Jess 3:00
Oh, yeah, that, you know, is very difficult. Again, it's something that I just my heart, you know, really goes out to young people experiencing that. Those parents really have to make decisions probably quickly to you know, get their families relocated for many reasons. So they didn't get to say goodbye. So my advice would be, you know, try to set up a video play date if you can and I think one of the nice things you can do there is prepare yourself for for that to buy or maybe even book staying in touch for when things do return to a bit of normalcy back when I was a young person, you know, we didn't have the internet and all those kind of really interesting ways to stay connected. So we would write letters to each other. And so that can also be a way to bring in a new activity and, you know, get that excitement of opening mail and having that, that that written, you know, handwritten note is another way to kind of keep keep in touch.
Bethany Van Delft 3:58
Another really difficult feeling many, many grownups and kids are going through during these times, is dealing with the loss of a loved one, due to COVID or, or, you know, another illness during these times when the loss is big enough, but then we can be there for each other. What is your advice for kids may be dealing with this?
Dr. Jess 4:21
Absolutely, you know, any time anyone that we love or care about or even, you know, just sort of know, anytime they die, it's very difficult. And I think one of the things I want to do is, is you know, make sure that people know your experience, the emotions that you feel are all normal. And so if you're feeling sadness, you're feeling a little bit of fear. If you're feeling a little upset and angry, those emotions are all normal, and they might actually make up what we call grief, and grief is a normal, healthy, expected experience when anyone that we care about passes away. So, you know, make sure that if you're experiencing those emotions to talk with your parents, your teacher, don't keep it inside, you know, it's going to be important to to share. And if I may, I also like to ask parents to also make sure that you are giving your child space to experience and express those emotions, maybe even share what you're experiencing, you know, it's gonna be normal and okay to cry. I think any of those emotions that you're experiencing does process it. And then obviously, if, if things are difficult, and you need support, that's where you, you know, talk with someone like me or a grief counselor, to get to get more help, but it's going to be normal to feel it's going to come in waves. And that's okay. And so focus on the memory and you know, doing what you can to kind of keep the memory of your loved one alive.
Bethany Van Delft 5:50
Definitely. These are really big feelings, and it's hard to, to sit with them. And it's really hard to want to sit with them. So what what's your number one piece of advice, how to cope with these uncomfortable feelings.
Dr. Jess 6:05
My number one piece of advice for coping with uncomfortable feelings is, believe it or not talking about them. I, you know, I cannot say that enough. I think that when people are experiencing uncomfortable feelings, and I see this also when I'm caring for people, our instinct is to hold it in. And our instinct is we don't want to burden others with what we're going through. So I want people to do the opposite, you've got to find a way to talk about it, to express it. Because that's the only way that people really know that you're experiencing it and also it gives an opportunity for people to do what I've, you know, kind of learned over the years, is to share that burden with you. And in to sort of help you to process it, to help you to to, to realize that you're not alone in that experience. And then also, the biggest piece is to help you find help, if you need it.
Bethany Van Delft 7:00
Thank you so, so, so much for joining us and for answering our questions and just talking to you has has helped a lot.
Dr. Jess 7:09
Thank you for having me. I think you know what you all are doing is incredible. And again, I was really honored to be part of this, this discussion today. So thank you.
Bethany Van Delft 7:25
It's time for a creature feature. Here's Laine Farber from The Nature Nerds Podcast.
Laine 7:35
What's 40 feet long, weighs over 15,000 pounds, and has a mouth filled with sharp serrated teeth? If you guessed a Tyrannosaurus Rex, then give yourself a round of applause. That's right. Today we're talking about the king of the tyrant lizards. With their size and stature, it's no surprise that these ferocious beasts were top predators of the Cretaceous period. But did you know that their babies were fuzzy and cute? So here's the scoop. According to recent studies, freshly hatched T-rex babies were roughly the size of dogs. Not only that, they were covered in little feathers like a baby duckling. They basically looked like a cross between a lizard and a baby Turkey. So cute. Up until recently, very little was known about little T-rexes. This discovery was made possible after paleontologists on earth the first ever fossilized Tyrannosaurus embryo. The Tyrannosaurus is a close cousin of the T-rex So scientists can make inferences about the T-Rex, based on what they know about the Tyrannosaurus. paleontologists have still not found fossils of a baby T-Rex, and they've been looking for a long time. The first T-rex fossil was discovered back in 1902. And the gigantic dinosaur has fascinated the world ever since. From books to movies to hundreds of scientific studies. The T-rex has seen it all. But it wasn't until very recently that we've finally understood what this massive monster actually looked like. For over 100 years, we believed that the T-rex resembled a scaly, big headed lizard with tiny arms and powerful legs. Scientists did the best they could using fossil evidence and they got a lot right. Big Head, check. Llittle arms, check. Powerful legs, also check.
Rough scaly skin, not so much. In the last few decades, scientists have discovered that dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than lizards.
A Kid 9:55
No way.
Laine 9:56
As a matter of fact, all birds that are alive today. are classified as avian dinosaurs.
A Kid 10:02
Whoa.
Laine 10:03
Pretty neat, right? This means that many of the Dinos we once imagine with rough scaly skin actually had feathers, including the T-Rex. So the next time you see a chicken, just imagine what it would look like with sharp serrated teeth and a long tail.
Bethany Van Delft 10:23
In a really random news, an elderly fruitbat named Stettler became an internet sensation recently, thanks to his caretakers at a bat sanctuary in Weatherford, Texas. Well, Stettler's too old and too injured to fly anymore. His handlers take him for daily simulated flights, carrying them around the sanctuary while he flaps his wings.
A Kid 10:47
That's incredible.
Bethany Van Delft 10:48
Oh my goodness, check out the video at thetennews.com. Time is up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. March 3rd is World Wildlife day and to celebrate we have net geo kids, educators, Dr. Gabby Wild on to talk about her new book, "Wild's Vet Adventures." The book is full of amazing stories and tons of awesome animal photographs. And guess what? We're giving it away! That's right. 10 lucky winners will receive a free copy of the book. Yes, free. Thank you very much. To find out how to enter for a chance to win visit TheTenNews.com Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. Our editorial director is Tracy Crooks editing and sound designed by Pete Musto. Our creative producers Jennifer Pasqua, and Steven Tompkins is our head of audience development. Our production assistant is Sarah Olender. Laine Farber contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Do you want to be part of the show? Have a grown up help you record a question or a joke or a fun fact you want to share and email it to us at hello@thetennews.com. I can't wait. And if you really love The Ten News, go to your favorite podcast app and submit a rating and review. It helps others find the show so they can join the fun. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Bye!
